1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a hidden photographic storage device, and more particularly, to a photographic storage device hidden behind a conventional painting or within a conventional wall unit.
2. Description of Related Art
The ready accessibility of a plurality of photographs, while at the same time hiding such photographs, is a problem known in the art. Photographs of the family taken over the years are priceless visual memories of rare moments and occasions in the ensuing lifer of a family. Unfortunately, after the photographs are initially developed and viewed, they are usually either placed in a photograph album and rarely viewed or they are placed loose in a bag and also rarely viewed. The album or bag is typically placed in a drawer somewhere amongst other items, thus, depriving the family of the joy of reliving special moments and priceless visual memories of its evolution through photographs of the events.
For example, a parent or grandparent can find much joy in viewing pictures of his or her child or grandchild in their younger years while currently talking to such child or grandchild on the phone. Normally, such pictures or photographs are not readily accessible but are stored in photograph albums stored in a drawer somewhere in the house.
If an individual wished to view such pictures or photographs, the individual must put the caller on hold and go to the drawer to retrieve the photograph album containing the desired pictures. Furthermore, the desired pictures may be located in several different albums or located in one of several different photographic albums, thus, requiring the individual to expend time to locate the correct photographic album. As precious time is wasted in addition to leaving the caller on hold, normally the parent or grandparent would not undertake such tasks, Thus, the individual is deprived of the joy and pleasure of quickly reviewing the development of the caller.
Additionally, if the parent or grandparent does pull the correct photographic albums for review, such individual is then required to return the albums to the proper albums, thus resulting in additional time lost.
The above example is just one of a limitless number of examples which shows the travesty of not having the family photographs ever present and easily accessible at all times, despite the fact that it could offer so much joy at a moments notice.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,049, issued to Cornelius, discloses a picture frame box having a record holder. The device includes an open front box formation, a looseleaf ring binder having a backbone, means for mounting the ring binder in the box formation and a cover hingedly mounted on the box formation for closing off the front of the box formation and concealing record sheets mounted on the ring binder. The device is used for record storage. However, the ring binders are limited as to the volume of storage available, as the number of sheets that can be stored in a ring binder is directly proportional to the thickness of each sheet and the size of the binder. The thicker the sheet, the fewer sheets can be used on a given size binder.
Accordingly, the Cornelius device is impractical with respect to storing a plurality of photographs, which require each sheet to be relatively thick. Photographs can be stored in many multiples or layers per sheet resulting in fairly thick sheets. To use a ring binder for storage of sheets of multiple photographs would either limit the number of photographs storable per sheet, limit the number of sheets that could be stored on the binder, or require the use of very large binder rings, causing the picture not to look normally, and alerting a person to the fact that something is hidden behind the picture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,037 issued to Rodriguez, discloses a wall display device for an office which nests together three separate display pieces and gives the appearance of a framed picture when not in use. An angled hinge permits a slimline appearance and permits the device to be essentially flush with the wall. The construction of the wall device presents a decorative appearance and provides for a variety of functional and illustrative display surfaces and/or a visual display device located in the center section adjacent to the wall. The display device has five surfaces available for display with up to three surfaces visible at once.
The hinged closure method of the Rodriguez device provides a relatively thin wall mounted display and has a shallow depth which is substantially flush with the wall both in the open and closed positions. The thin requirement does not permit the display of a large multiplicity of photographs as the individual display surfaces would become too thick to function properly.
Other devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,247,744, 4,936,038, 4,413,736, and 4,304,447. However, none of these devices are intended for hidden storage of photographs nor solve the problems of the prior art discussed above.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,649,799 issued to M. Spertus discloses a picture frame album, display photographs, essentially one at a time, primarily from an inclined, easel supported frame that rests on a surface. The device has a front picture frame concealing a hidden photo album. Each sheet in the hidden photo album compartment is designed to hold a single photograph and permits viewing of a plurality of photographs in essentially a sequential manner.
Thus, what is needed in the are is a readily accessible photograph album, which allows a plurality of photographs to be stored in their normal way, i.e. layered, and is hidden when the pictures or photographs are not being viewed. It is therefore, to the effective resolution of the aforementioned problems and shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed.